Columbia Police to Ramp Up Sobriety Checkpoints

The Columbia Police Department will be monitoring impaired driving until this Sunday with an increased number of checkpoints and patrols.

A sobriety checkpoint on St. Patrick's Day this year lead to 19 DWI arrests, and Columbia's DWI unit arrested more than 200 impaired drivers in 2016.

The checkpoints are funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Traffic and Highway Safety Division, but their funding is still a matter of debate. Earlier this month the Missouri House aimed to prohibit state funding for sobriety checks in its proposed budget for MODOT, but the Senate later removed that language.